The Sun. — London, England, 1864-03-30 00:00:00

ALION'S WELCOME to a LION--Dorset Divinity—Our Own Correspondent at the Volunteer Review, Se.—in FUN, This Week. One Penny. THEATRE ROYAL DRUR Y-L AN E. Managers, Messrs. Edmond Falconer and F. B. Chatterton. THIS EVENING, will be produced a Grand Stage Revival of Shakspere's Chronicle or Historical Play, entitled the First Part of HENRY THE FOIJRTH. No pains or expense will be spared to render this presen- be tation of our National Autho r ' s most popular, may said, most representative English Drama, a becom ng Com me noratfon, in example, at the National Theatre, of the grandeur and comorehensive character of his genius. eminent The cast will include im p ers by those Artists, Mr. PH ELPS. Mr. Walter Montgomery, Mr. Walter Lacy. Mr. Addison, Mr. Ryder, Mr. Robert Roxby. Mr. Barrett, Mr. E Phelps, Mr. Rayner, Mr. H. Vandenhoir, Mr. Belmore, Mr. Ellerton, Mr. Fitzjames, Mr. Neville ; Miss Edith Wynne, M ss Rcse Leclercq, and Mrs. Edmund Fal coner, supported by all the Members of the Drury-lane Ccm pan y. Tne new and characteristic scenery will be entirely de signed and painted by Mr. William Beverley. The costumes, armour, &c , wid be fashioned from designs by It. IV, Keene, Esq , t,ken from illustrated MSS. of the period, and other authorities. Preceded by a Transatlantic Extravaginzt. by .T. M. Morton, Esq., entitled THE A L kBAIE Ek, in which Mr. G. Delmore and Miss Lydia Thompson will appear. /1111EATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET.- Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr, Buckstone. THIS EVENING. March 30, OUR AMERICAN?OUS IN: Messrs. Sothern, Buckstone, Chippendale, Rs, Clark, Gordon, Braid, &c. ; Mesdames Ange l, Lindley, Bill, Harris, Snowden, &c. After which, the new Easter piece, entitled VENUS' AND ADONIS. Messrs. Compton, Wm. Farrell, Coe. &c. ; Mes dames Louise Keeley, Snowden, Nelly Power, Hill, Wright, Rogers, &c. To conclude with MY HUSBAND'S GHOST. Commence at 7. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.... Sole Lesee and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining. THIS EVENING, PAUL'S RETURN. After which, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. The Two Dromios, by the Brothers Webb. To conclude with , 3 d time, a new Farce, byJ. 31. Morton, Esq., entitled DRAWING - WM', SECOND FLOOR, AND ATTICS. ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. Under the Sole Management of Mr. Fechter. THIS EVENING, the performances will commence with THE DAY AFTER THE FAIR: Messrs. Widdi combe, Garden, Moreland, and Miss E. Lavenu. Alter which, at Eight o'clock, the 119th Night of BEL DEMONIO, a Love Story, in Twelve Tableaux, taken from Stendhal's "Italian Chronicle. Principal character by Mr. Fechter. Messrs. Jordan, Charles, J. Brougham, Emery, Raymond, Moreland, Smith, Clifford, Collett, Sims ; Miss Kate Terry, Miss E. Lavenu, Mrs. Lee, Miss Elsworthy. The Public are entreated to take notice that No Charge is Blade to the occupaats of Boxes, Box-places, or Stalls, either to: play bills or for the safe keeping of hats and cloaks, and that the attendants in all parts of the house are forbidden to receive any gratuities whatever. Box-office open daily from 11 to 5. Commence at 7. EW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHI.--• 4.11 Sole Proprietor and Manazer, Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING (by desire) a popular Parc?. After which, THE DEAD HEART. Eob2rt Landry (his original character), Mr. B. Com Webster. Commence at 7. 31 ISS BATEMAN.-L E A H.-THIN EVENING and EVERY EVENING.—Miss Bateman will re-apnear in her great impersonation of the Jewish ma:den until further notice. In order o give due effect to tats most remarkable suc3esA of the se ,son, easirely new scenery by the celebrated artists Messrs. Danson and Sons, and Thompscn. New drcsss and appo'ntments have been prepared for its production.—N. B. In consequence of the pressing and numerous applications at the Box-offs T, ar rangements have now been - nade by which Seats nivy be ob tattle i a Fortnight in Advance. R OYAL ST. JAMES'S THEATRE, under the Management of Mr. B. WEBSTER. Crowded with Rank and Fashion.—The greatly successful new Comedy every Evening.—Re-engagement of those cele brated artistes, Mr. and Mrs. C. Mathews.—First time here of the popular Burlesque, by J. R. Planche, Esq., The Golden Fleece. Amongst the artists engaged will be found the names of Mr. Benjamin Webster, Mr. Charles Mathews, Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr. J. Clarke, Mr. Paul Bedford, Mr. Frank Matthews, Mr. F. Robinson ; Miss Herbert, Mrs. Charles Mathews, Mrs. Frank Matthews, Miss A. Cottrell, Miss Fanny Josephs, Miss Patti Josephs, Miss Wentworth, and Mrs. Stirling. Every Evening, at 7, the favourite Farce of FORTY AND FIFTY: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Matthews. At a quarter before 8, the successful new Comedy, by L. Buckingham, Esq., entitled THE SILVER LINING: Mr. Charles Mathews, Mr. F. Robinson, Mr. Ashley, Mr. Montague ; Mrs. Charles • Mathews, Mrs. Frank Matthews, Miss A. Cottrell, Miss Wentworth, and Mrs. Stirling. Af cer which, third time here, THE GOLDEN FLEECE : Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews, Miss A. Catrel', and Mr. J. Clarke. To conclude with UNDER THE ROSE : Mr. Ashley and lilies A. Cottrell. Commence at 7. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Manager, Mr. W. H. Swanborough. THIS EVENING, a new Comedietta, A HUNT FOR A HUSBAND. Atter which, the Grand Christmas Burlesque, ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE : Messrs. Honey, Wood, James Fenton, Mesdames Swanborough, Marie Wilton, Hughes, &c. Concluding with MARGATE SANDS. Commence at 7. MdE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN," 31.. Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE, Dan be had Every Evening of G. R. GLIsNIE, NEWS AGENT, No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Ilyde-park. COALS. —The LILLESHALL COMPANY'S COALS. Direct from their own Collieries. Marquis'.......26s. per ton. I Double 21s. per ton. Top 255. „ Nuts . . l9s. „ Deep 22s. „ Well screened and delivered withtn tive miles ot their De pots, Westbourne Park-road, W., and 17, South Wharf, "'Addington, W. Best Coke Terms cash. JOHN SCOTT, Sole Agent. The Weather—Sun Office, March 30, 1864. THERMOMETER. This day at Two o'clock Barometer-29.31. Wind—West; fresh breeze, and showery. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DA7l.—Monaing, 6h. 20m.—Afternoon, 6h. 42m To-wtoßß.ow.-Morning, ' 7h. 12m.—Afternoon, 7h. 46m, y .411 t, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1864. Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE'S speech last even inglat Exeter—a speech addressed by him, through his Exeter' audience to the Conservative party throughout Devonshire, and, for that matter, it might be quite accurately said, to the Conservative party throughout the country—is. we take it, very much like the beating of the pas de charge before the general advance against their opponents, of the whole attacking line of the Opposition. Viewed in that light, it is worth looking at. The dominant feeling expressed by Sir STAFFORD NORTLICOTE, as one of the mouthpieces of his party, is that of absolute confidence. He looks forward, not so much hopefully to, as with implicit reliance upon, the Future. His manner indicates, not merely exhila3 ration, though there is that in it too, and abun dantly, but—exultation. He appears to regard the Ministry somewhat with the same feeling with which we might suppose a hierophant armed with the sacrificial knife watching the near approach of the fated victim to his appointed place of doom —in this instance, of course, the Altar of his Country'. It is not alone, in this, that ho looks eagerly and confidingly to the House of Commons. lie looks quite as eagerly and as confidingly to the constituencies. He is firmly persuaded that, when ever they like, the Opposition, if they will but choose the we — I' of putting the question adroitly before the house the momentous alternative, that 18, whether directly or indirectly articulated, of Confidence or of No-Confidence—can, any day they please, put the Government in a minority. That, to begin with, he has cleat ly no doubt what ever about. Bet, far more than that, he turns his sanguine, nay, his reliant, eyes around him outside the walls of Parliament—as we have already said, to the conetituenees Let it be y n a very p fact, how lil o bserved, inindeed, he puts this,'",in the manner following. ",The time will co me," he says, whether in th e f orm of a seque l to a debate in the House of Commons or not I do not know, but it will certainly come, when u pon the hustings of England, and before the electoral tri bunals of England, the Government will have to render an account of the way in which they have thrown away the influence of England, and for having brought her nam e into disrepute amongst the nations of the world; and, gentlemen, speaking for the Conservative party, I will venture to say that we care n o t h o w coon the time may come. W e know that it cannot be longer off than next year; it is prohibit) it may be evert this year, but whenever it does come I feel Sure tLa Conservative peoPie of this country will rally round their itandurd—that then will be no flinching, no disunion, no personal jealousies that will be allowed to stand in the way, and if the results of the general election should be such as the results of the recent elections have latterly given us some reason to hope, you will then see that the Conser vative party in this country will be placed in a position such as it has not occupied for eighteen years past." Confidence the most complete and absolute could not have more articulate expression given to it than is here given to it—in the interme diate lull of the Easter Holidays—by the hon. baro net the member for the borough of Stamford—ac cording to common report, the skilled financier, who may, in the event of a Conservative Government being formed, succeed the leader of that Govern ment in the House of Commons in the onerous post twice before now dauntlessly undertaken by that responsible leader of the whole Party in the House of Commons (undertaken by him in addition to his supreme and surely sufficient responsibility) the difficult and laborious office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Now, what is especially noticable in this confidence of the Conservative Party, as expressed in pretty plain words by Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE, as one of its recognised spokesmen—what we regard as especially and peculiarly noticeable in it, (apart from the fact that it is a confidence justified by every political portent visible around us) is the fact that it is emphasised, as we may say by the very apathy, confusion, and inertness appa rent upon all hands on the Bide of our Government. Ministers, in the thick of all these sinister omens, of all these alarm ing tokens of a coming struggle, remain ob durately, both within the House and out of the House, as it were, sitting mumchance ! They really seem as though they had not a word to say for themselves. Remembering what they used to be, in the way of out-speaking, one is almost disposed to muse over them as HAMLET mused over the skull of YoRICK—" Alas ! how chapfallen !" And the worst of it is to us, looking at the present " situation" of men and measures quite dispassionately—not as partizans, for partizans we are not, but purely as advocates of a liberal and enlightened and secure advance, and as conservators of all that is worth conserving—the worst of it is, that the so. called Great Liberal Party those men who met five years ago in a west-end concert room, to arrange their plans for the future, have them selves alone to thank for the change that has by this time, quite visibly, quite obviously, come over the spirit of their dream ! They have—for this change, we repeat, to thank themselves exclusively: not their opponents. Not the Conservative (and now formidable) Opposition. That Opposition all this while, all these five years past, has been simply biding its time. Government has been left pretty well to itself. It has had its full fling, and, in availing itself of it, it has floundered into these difficulties, both at home and abroad— difficulties at once social, political, and diplomatic. Things have gradually, in point of fact, been brought, under these auspices, to such a pass, that, among ourselves here at home, we have long since come to a dead-lock in the matter of Reform, while abroad our foreign Policy is little better than a fiasco. One way or the other, the country wants to get out of this dead-lock, and to get well rid at last of this fiasco. One way or the other—that is, either by a change of the Government, or by a change of the downward course now being pur sued by the Government. It is doubtful whether many of the warmest sup porters of Parliamentary privileges among us were a few days ago aware of the existence of a very curious specimen of representative government still extant in one corner of these islands. We have all of us heard of the three estates of Kings, Lords, and Commons, and have heard also of the honorary title bestowed upon the goodly broadsheets of the daily and weekly press, but most ordinary English men had yet to learn that there ,existed a Fifth Estate, no more name or shadow, but an actual potent substance flourishing in this oar nineteenth century, exercising supreme and irresponsible powers, and in virtue of those powers committing QUEEN VICTORIA'S offending lieges to the safe keeping of four walls during the good pleasure of their offended majesty. Such an assembly is, however, to be found, and a recent arbitrary exer cise of its real or pretended power has brought it into collision with the popular feeling in a manner that is likely to bring about a change. It seems that the little Isle of Man, which up to a compa ratively recent period boasted a king of its own, has even now a separate and independent Legisla ture. The number of this august body is not formidable, being four-and-twenty, but they make up in arrogance for what they want in amount. There is a mystery about their nomination and their origin. We are only told in the present re velations that they are self-elected, though why the number is so limited, or what class of people possess the happy privilege, is not stated. If our House of Commons were constructed on any such principle as self-election, we apprehend that the necessary six hundred and fifty-eight would be nominated two or three times over ! The Parlia ment of the Isle of Man is, however, conducted on exclusive principles, and is styled the House of Keys, which, considering its fancy for locking people up, is no inappropriate cognomen. All laws for the regulation of the internal affairs of the island must receive the sanction of the governing body, but it is somewhat unfortunate that this governing body is by no means in harmony with the temper of the times. The members are prin cipally agricultural persons, " almost ignorant," according to the account, " of sanitary regulations," and not at all inclined to work amicably with the more enterprising and progressive townsmen. We have lately had one or two antagonisms between the Executive and the municipal authorities, but matters in the metropolis never proceeded to the serious lengths which the dispute attained in the chief town of the Isle of Man. This same city is called Douglas, and is known as a place of summer resort by tourists. Perhaps from this communica tion with the outer world its inhabitants have be come sensible of the advantages of those sanitary reforms and improvements which are so offensive to the formidable members of the House of Keys. The town commissioners, a body elected by the people, which undertakes the management of the lighting, sewerage, and paving of the town, laid before the Keys a bill to obtain further powers for •the improvement of Douglas. The people of the town were, very justly, to bear the weight of the taxation ; but this did not serve to mitigate the wrath of the offended Legislature, to whom dirt and darkness were apparently dear. Country roads were not paved, and why should town roads be ? We may suppose they propounded this problem without discovering any solution, for after a long discussion on the bill it was decidedly rejected. The vexation of the public found its usual expan sion in the channels of the press, for it must Toot be supposed that Mona, whi c h p ossesses so many in dividual powers, is without its organs of popular feeling. The Isle of Man 2imes and the Mona Herald aeeordingly expressed their views with some saves icy. We may conclude that their offence lay less in the ,actaal language than in the dis paragement of the bigh and Thighry soyczeigaty of these unmanageable Keys. At a meeting of the irresponsible potentates, it was decided that the articles in the journals mentioned were "a contempt of the House and a breach of its privi leges." It is a new version of the old story about Kings and Parliaments, only the vox populi is in this case one of the parties. The point where jest passes into serious earnest, and absurdity becomes illegal and intolerable, is now reached. The two owners of the journals were summoned to the bar of this self-elected House, and an ample apology was demanded. One of them, Mr. FAR GHER, agreed to apologise ; the other gentleman, Mr. BROWN, proprietor of the Mona Herald, re fused to do so, and was consequently marched off to prison, there to remain daring six months. This is a little too much in this country, at the pre sent day, after all our battles for the liberty of the press and the freedom of the subject. Public indignation, we are told, is up to fever heat, and subscriptions are being formed in the town for the purpose of trying the legality of the act by a writ of habeas corpus. We should imagine that the affair might be settled in a shorter and more simple fashion. Let the Home Secretary forth with inquire by what authority, or for what offence, this gentleman has been imprisoned. Such an act can hardly be done, in the face of all existing regulations of law and order, without some one being made responsible ; and the affair has now assumed a degree of serious importance, which necessitates some notice being taken of it by the Government. It is useless to make protests on behalf of our citizens abroad, if we cannot insure them from arbitrary imprisonment at home. If Mr. BROWN has outstripped the ordinary courtesies of the press, the remedy is easily found in the law of libel ; but for any body of self-appointed men to summon a journalist before them, and de spatch him to prison because he will not retract his words, is something almost too extravagant to be credited. If the most influential of the Manxmen prefer mud to paving stones, rushlights to gas, and have a well-founded objection to sewerage and street cleaning, it is a matter of little moment to the rest of the empire ; but a petty local dispute rises into national importance when it subverts the great principles of our English law, and tramples on the safeguards of our constitutional liberty. The report of the Committee of the House of Lords on the present state of discipline in Gaols and Houses of Correction, will again revive the disputes and discussions that have taken place on this subject. At all events it is better to bestow too much attention rather than too little upon a question of so much moment, and it may yet appear that out of so many conflicting and confused statements, such divers opinions and con trary arguments, a beneficial judgment has been taken, and a practical advantage has accrued to the community. It may well be said of the many various suggestions that have abounded, and the different proposals that have been recorded by those who took the question up, and studied it in its detail, Tas Homines, at sententice. We may rest assured that what is undertaken by the House of Lords will bo done thoroughly, and that a calm judgment will be taken of the whole transac- tions. The result of their protracted researches must have enlightened them not a little concerning the difficult and complex subject upon which they entered, and it is earnestly to be hoped that, skill, zeal, and information combined in no meagre form, and associated in no common degree, may work out for us a satisfactory result, and bestow upon the community the blessings of security and the con sciousness that the powers that be are grappling with crime successfully and surely. It is a fearful consideration to take home with us from the whirl of busines3 and the vortex of pleasure, and reflect upon in solitude, that all the vaunted appa nages of the State, ail the mighty machinery of the law are of no avail in putting down the spread of evil, or in stifling its power. Some of the schemes enter tained by their lordships may be moulded into plans of great utility, and eventually effect a real and lasting improvement in our system of penal ser vitude. In the first place, the suggestion relative to the uniformity of treatment is a very desirable one, for to make a distinction or difference among men who are under the same category is a great mistake, and can but be productive of deleterious effects. Then there is great cause to approve of the proposal which discourages in some degree the practice of confining the labour of prisoners to in dustrial occupations solely, and thus putting a stop to the penal part of the system, which from its re pugnant character must serve to exercise a greater check, and be, as it is styled in the report, a " de terrent influence." The fact is that this forms part of the system which has prevailed to so great an extent in all the ramifications of our penal system of late years. The object seems to be to keep the men quiet by whatever means can be employed. The best satire on the efficacy of such policy as regards its ultimate working is the fact that re-committals are so numerous: When more than 41,000 are re committed in one year, it is time that some striking reforms be introduced, and some stringent regula tions enforced. When we reflect upon the very in- sufficient style of punishment to which these men have been subjected, perhaps it would be more astonishing after all if the result were different. The difficulty is to draw a line between over severity and faulty leniency. The tendency of the present day is to err greatly on the side of laxity. A sort of maudlin sentiment has sprung up and flourished to a wonderful extent among us. Directly a man commits a crime he seems to be considered in the light of a martyr by some infatuated members of society, and the circumstance of a murderer suffering capital punish ment fills them with virtuous indignation, and excites pious horror that know no bounds. These would-be philanthropists forget that it is a treason against virtue to encourage vice, and that sin must not be palliated and put aside after this fashion, for it is going against the order of nature so to do, and if the statutes of wise laws are infringed, divine as well as human wisdom calls for an expiation. It is enough to say that the supposed kindness is a positive cruelty ; the innocent suffer for the guilty, and the persistence in this faulty course has plunged many into deeper sin, and spread snares and pit falls more plentifully around the steps of those who wander unprotected in the desolate highway of the world. It is a scandal to our most vaunted system of penal servitude that so many recommittals take place, and the sooner the authorities will acknow ledge their error and set to work to rectify the mistakes that prevail to so great an extent the better it will be for all concerned. The committee lay great stress on the importance of maintaining the separate system, and it sounds to sense that this plan presents the greatest advantages, and possesses a supe r i or claim over any other in the way of keeping up discipline and working out the re medial agency which it is hoped that the term of incarceration will in some degree effect. Nothing could be stronger than the manner in which the com mittee have expressed themselves on this head, and it is doubtless their well-grounded conviction that has ' an t such vigour to their decision, and uniformity ,o their opinion. Tau consider that the separate system must now be accepted as the foundation of prison discipline, and that its rigid maintenance is THE S(JN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 20, 1864. a vital principle to the efficiency of county and borough gaols." It is impossible to say more than this, and when it is considered that this is the decision arrived at after minute investigation, careful analysis, and extended experience, it must be conceded that the greatest regard should be given to the advice. Sometimes a simple treatment of a bad case will prove more efficacious than a very complex and elaborate one, and if some of the most important features that appear in this report be strictly adhered to and steadfastly upheld, there is good reason and well grounded expectation to hope that beneficial consequences will ensue; at all events it is worth the trial, and without the exercise of any undue severity, or inflicting injuries on the health of the prisoners, it is high time that a stop be put to the permission of comforts and sometimes luxuries which honest poverty,struggling in unaided toil at home, can never dream of. There is something very wrong in the penal system, when prisoners prefer the prison to the workhouse. They commit offences to be trans ferred to the former; and if this is not an unanswer able argument in favour of a radical change, it would be difficult to find one at all. Prejudice and partiality do a great deal to deter the introduction of remedial measures in all things; but their day must pass away at last, and let men walk in the light of truth and be swayed by the dictates of reason. Surely the time has arrived for common sense to come to the rescue, and let us call things by their right names. Let not all prisons be such a lamentable failure that they may be styled the nursery of crime and the fostering influence of guilt ; but let their rules and regulations be so con structed that, in so far as human means can effect it, all possibie checks be put in the way of crime, that the man of sin may find no refuge for him, where his evil ways are lightly thought of, but that the knowledge may go forth surely, if slowly, that there is no peace for those who make evil their profession, and increase their crimes tenfold by drawing others into the same evil ways which their own footsteps I are pursuing to perdition. THE ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA, Madlle. Lagrua's Norma, The eighteenth season of the Royal Italian Opera commenced last evening. And Mr, Gye ought, certainly, to be satisfied with the succeds of its inauguration. For, an opening night could hardly have gone off more brilliantly or more auspiciously. The magnificent house itself was filled throughout. It is never, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, crowded—each occupant of a seat there (even those relegated to the pit and amphitheatre) having plenty of elbow room : but last night, we repeat, it was filled in every part, and looking superbly. If there was no conspicuous novelty apparent in the mere selection of the opera chosen for this first night's performance—there was, at least, one especial attraction (there being also several minor attrac tions, visible at a glance to the eye of any habitué) in the cast of the chef d'oeuvre thus, and with good reason, picked out for the first night, from the Royal Italian Opera's ample repertoire. Belliai's lovely lyrical tragedy of " Norma" has often, of course, been (as it certainly never can to often be) heard in this country— heard season after season, and that alternately, sometimes simulta- neously, at both houses—at Her Majesty's of late years with Madlle. Titiens as the High Priestess— at the Royal Italian (until now) with Madame Grisi as the love-lorn Druidess, a character in truth which, it will long be remembered, was high up among the glories of la Diva! But last evening " Norma" was heard for the first time with Made moiselle Emilia Lsgrue, as the heroine of the grand lyrical tragedy. The first night of the season was the first night of Madlle. Lagrua's appearance, here in England. The debutante was there, moreover, upon the scene of so many of Grisi's triumphs, was there to rival one of Grisi's most reuowned impersonations, was there, in fact aspiring to occupy the position of Grisi's successor. And, as the result of her triple daring, we may now say, at once that she has not only aspired to it, she has assumed it. Mademoiselle Lagrua's success last night was unmistakeable. Even from the frigid and fastidious audience of Covent Garden she extracted round after round of applause. Called before the curtain at the end of the first of the two acts—her success being re cognisable from the very commencement —the fair soprano was again summoned to the footlights at the conclusion of the opera, thence retiring, at the close of her first night, amidst a burst of acclama tions, the cordiality o f w hi c h had about it, as a token of her success, a very manifest significance. The wonder, perhaps, would have been—remembering her antecedents—had the result been otherwise. For, during several yeaes past, Madlle. Lagrua has enjoyed a high reputation, among the highest repu tations, as a leading soprano in both hemispheres, in America as well as in various parts of the Euro• peen continent. Hence, poss ibly, the early fresh ness of her lovely voice has apparently p assed awa y already, before her advent to Eng land. Thou gh , thi when saying --a, we cling to the belief that our impression, as to its being so, may prove to have been suggested by the not unna tural nervousness incident to every debutante, no matter how familiar already that d6butante with the lyrical stage elsewhere. Judging from appear ances there was cer t a i n ly n o one touch of timi dity about the N orma o f l as t night, either in her acting or in her si ng i ng , but—in lieu of any signs of timidity —every token of the most complete self possession. N e v er th e l es s, either from the hidden nervousness we have supposed, or from th e disap pearance already of the earliest fres h nes s of her voice, the exquisite organ of Madlle. Lagrua (excepting only upon three or four rare and for that very reason, of course, thrice - welcome occa sions) seem e d t o l ac k the resonance requisite to fill the immense building, and the capacity to soar now and th en a b ove the harmonious tumult of the ac, thatorchestralti alvtidile. ccompanirl is the most part singing ent. It appeared to us, f L agr ua last night was fo r it may be f ran kly sa id at undeornhcee,rwcaaps no ticeablethabileitimeso.stThis have in Norma been the least accustomed to l whatever of where,d deficiency, c f i o e r n y y Sears, e we l y, o i o n k t f h o e r , a . u gh y sense non tremare, o perfido" in tu ytt m n that m en the impassioned s cene with Pollio and Adalgisa, and imm ediately after wards the "0h! di qual sei in this, probably, has taught us to be over -exacting , as Pasta must have a.,,G s r a is hsocweeve in r , done—in that character which was hers especially, hers par excellence—ia the former generation. Having made this one exception in regard to the Norma of Madlle. Lagrua, we have said all that we have to say—in the way of exceptions. Otherwise her impersonation of the High Priestess of the Druids was a triumph both of acting and of vocalization. Her every movement is grace—her attitudes again and again were pre eminently statuesque. Personally she has the all essential advantages for a leading soprano, of hand some and intellectual features, of a finely d eve l ope d form, and of a noble bearing. Her rendering of the famous " Casta Diva" —in which the Priestess, armed with the golden sickle, apostrophises the moon as the Goddess of the Druids, in the midst of the kneeling multitude ---eras delicious through out, in every phrase, and note, and cadence : the audience at the close of it evidencing their appre ciation by their plaudits. Usually, this prayer is sung by Norma with her arms extended towards Heaven. Here, in the very manner of her delivery of it, the Norm of last night, stood before us—excep tionally : her hands, from the first note to the last —that is, of the ' Caste Diva," and of its con tinuance, the " TemprA to de' oft Ardenti"—being calmly crossed upon her bosom. Indisputable as the success achieved by Mdlle. Lagrua was clearly in the first act, that success was more than confirmed in the second—it was very considerably enhanced, becom ing an unmistakeable triumph before the fall of the curtain. Then it was, indesd,in the concluding moiety of the opera that her powers were signalised at their best and highest. Her " Deh I con te, con to li prendi," in which she commits her children (and Pollio's) to the care of Adalgisi—her tender, loving, bewitching " Qual cor tradisti, qual cor per desti," in which she makes her final and at last effectual appeal to the heart of Pollio, the perjured Proconsul whose affections have been estranged from her by his later and fatal passion for Adalgisa—above all, her kneeling, tearful, heart broken appeal to her father, Oroveso, the appeal in which she invokes him to guard her little ones from destruction—crowned, confirmed, completed, we may say perfected, the triumph achieved last evening by Madlle. Lagrua. Hers in effect has been a success justifying that unusual passage in the Prospectus of the Season thus auspiciously in augurated—that, we believe, almost unprecedented passage in an Opera Manager's Prospectus—in which Mr. Gye thus announced the advent of Madlle. Lagrua :—" It has never," said Mr. Gye, " been the habit of the Director of the Royal Italian Operatto herald forth the praises of artistes about to make their first appearance at his theatre, however great their continental reputations may have been ; and in the case of the engagement of Madlle. Lagrua it is not his intention to depart from this custom any further than to express a very confi dent hope that this artiste will sustain in London the reputation which she now enjoys abroad, viz.—that of being, in the Opera Saria, by far the greatest dramatic singer of the, period." That confident hope of the Director has now been realized. We have said that the cast of the opera generally was attractive by reason of its novelty as a east — Maisie and Clothilde being the only characters not newly portrayed last night to a Covent Garden audi ence : the former having been allotted to Signor Rossi, the latter to Madame Tagliafico. It should be remarked at once, however, that while Madlle. Battu had, as announced, " kindly consented" to assume the part of Adalgisa, she has by so doing added yet another leaf to her already umbrageous laurels. The same may as certainly be said of Signor Naudin, whose Pollio may take rank at once among his most gracious performances. Of the new basso Signor Attri, we can hardly venture to pro nounce an opinion, hearing him as we have only yet done as the Druid chief Oroveso—a cha■ racter affording him no opportunity for the display of his possibly large capabilities, both lyrical and histrionic. Signor Costa's ap pearance in the orchestra wtis the signal for his great annual ovation—his matchless dexterity in wielding the baton, as evidenced by the performers both on the stage and in the orchestra, serving yesterday to signalise anew the secret of his popularity. The National Anthem, it should be said, preceded the opera—the fall of the curtain, at the close of Norma, being duly followed by a divertisement, in which Madlle. Sal vioni re-appeared before her admirers. To-morrow evening "Norma" will be repeated, and on Saturday next Mario is to make his first appearance this season as Masaniello. PRENICIAN PURPLE, It is generally known this colour was extracted by the ancients from a mollusk, but of what kind has been the subject of long disputes. Da Lamark, in his magnificent work on invertebrate, adopts the opinion that the species known among naturalists under the name of wurex brandaris was that which yielded the purple of the first quality. M. Bublaye proved the soundness of this opinion during bis travels as a member of the scientific expedition to the Pelaponnesus. Following the sea-coast, be was surprised to find at short distances certain considerable deposits of the murex brandaris. At first he was inclined to attribute them to some geological cause ; but, on examining the neighbourhood, he ascertained that these depo sits were in every instance close to some ruin, gene rally bearing traces of having once been dyeing establishments. Several other species of murex seem to have been used for a purple of an inferior quality. Subsequently M. Fr. Lenormant found similar and much more numerous deposits on the coasts of Cerigo and Gythium. It was, therefore, on those islands chiefly that purple used to be manufactured from the murex brandaris. M. de Saulcy, nevertheless, does not consider the question as definitively set at rest, and is of opinion that the best colour was derived from another mollusk. He states that in going from Ty re, now called Sour, to Sidon, now Sayda, and entering the latter by a staircase built near the coast, and adjoining the rope yards, an enormous mass of shells is perceived, all belonging to the single species called murex trun eulus. The deposit is upwards of 100 metro in length, and between 6 and 8 metres in height, with a considerable breadth which cannot be ascertained because the deposit is one side covered with the soil. All the shells without exception are broken in ex actly the same manner, evidently with the view to get at the animal itself. This is certainly not the effect of mere accident, and it can only be explained as having been done by the Sidonian dyers, who extracted their purple from this species, while in Greece they used the other. PUBLIC HEALTH.—It appears from a careful analysis, extending over a lengthened term of years, that the annual death-rate at all ages and from all causes was as follows in various parts of England and Wales—Lon don, 2363 per cent., the southeastern counties, 1.955 per cent., the south midland counties 2.044 per cent., the eastern counties 2.058 per cent„ the south-western counties 2.001 per cent, the west midland counties 2 . 237 per cent., the north midland counties 2.111 per cent., the north western counties 2.550 per cent. ; Yorkshire 2.309 per cent., the northern counties 2.199 per cent, and Monmouth shire and Wales 2.126 per cent. The south-eastern coun ties would thus appear to be the healthiest, and the north-western counties the unhealthiest, in England. The expression " London" includes, of course, the whole metro politan district, in which a population of 2,803,989 was congregated in 1861, and which extends over part of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent. The south-eastern coun ties include the extra-metropolitan part of Kent, the extra metropolitan part of Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire. and Berkshire, the district having an aggregate population of 1,847,661 in 1861, The south midland counties include the extra-metropolitan part of Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Hunt ingdonshire, Bedfordshire, and Cambridgeshire, the dis trict having a population of 1,295,497 in 1861. The eastern counties include Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, which mustered 1,142,580 in 1861. The south-western counties comprise Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire,iCornwall, and Somersetshire, which furnished a contingent of 1,835,714 in 1861. The west midland counties are Gloucestershire, Here fordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire, which figured altogether for 2,436,568 in 1861. The north midland counties are Leicestershire, Rutlandshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derby shire, which had 1,288,928 inhabitants in 1861. The north-western counties are Cheshire and Lancashire, in habited by 2,935,540 in 1861. Yorkshire, which, of course, requires no subdivision, had a population of 2,016,541 in 1861; and the northern counties, Northum berland, Durham, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, had 1,151,372 residents in the same year. Finally, Monmouth shire and Wales had a population of 1,312,834 in 1861. It will be observed that the rate of mortality in Lancashire and Cheshire is relatively very high, and the sanitary re forms likely to be secured by the Public Works Act, 1863, are evidently urgently needed. Thus, the death-rate from all causes and at all ages in Lancashire and Cheshire has averaged 2.550 per cent. per annum. Assuming that it could be reduced one-half per cent., 14,678 lives would be saved annually, or 146,750 in ten years, without allowing for the increase of population naturally arising, and taking the census numbers of 1861 as the basis of the calculation. THE GARIBALDI PROCESSION.—At a meeting of the trades' delegates, held last night, it was resolved that the reception should take place at the Vauxhall Station, and that the route suggested by the sub-committee, namely, from Vauxhall Station along Kennington-road, Westminster-road, 'Westminster-bridge, Parliament-street, St, James's, Piccadilly, Knightsbridge, Kensington-road, Princes-gate, should be the route taken by the procession on the arrival of Garibaldi. Advices from Vienna state -that the Archduke Maximilian has made a present of the island of Lacroma to his sister-in-law, the Empress of Austria. This island is in the Adriatic, over against Ragusa, and is his torically famous as being the spot where Richard Coeur de Lion was confined on his return from the Holy Land. The Empress of Austria intends to pass some time at Laconia for th/ Invat of her health, LATEST INTELLIGENCE. IREUTER'S TELEGRAMS.] NEW FORTIFICATIONS AT RENDSBURG, RENDSBURG, MARCH 30. Several engineer officers of high rank have arrived here in order to survey and select ground for the erection of a new line of fortifications. FRANCE. BouasE, March 29.—The market has teen very agitated, and Stock having been freely offered, prices have receded. Threes, for the Account, are now at 65f. 70c. Mobilier have declined to 1,045 f. Railway Market heavy, with lower quotations on many of the lines. The market closed as follows : 41 per Cents. .. 92 50 Italian Loan 67 70 Do. end mouth.... Do. end month 67 70 3 per Cents Do. end month.... 66 80 Do. end month — Credit Mobilier.... 1040 Russian Do. end m0nth...J.041 25 Austrian .. — Bank Shares 3300 Spanish Threes.... Credit Fonoier 1275 Fiomo Debt .. — Roman EA IL WAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans Northern New ditto Lyons and Mediterranean 945 .. 945 New ditto Southern 653 7i .. 657 50 Western Eastern Sardinian Austrian Lon' bard North of Spain Saragossa 5Bl .. 582 50 Ditto to Barcelona RUSSIA. A Warsaw letter in the lnvalide Russe gives the subjoined details concerning the publication of the Emancipation Manifesto : " Notwithstanding the damp and gloomy weather, crowds of people assembled from all the streets, at the several squares where the publica tion of the decrees was to take place. I saw the Alexander Square and the peristyle of the church covered with an impatient multitude. At teu o'clock appeared the procession, at the head of which advanced 0., horseback the aides-de camp of the Governor; then came the District Grand Master of Police and the trumpeters of the Grodno regiment of Hussars ; nest, the Grand Master of the City of -Warsaw, Baron Frederiksz. Two heralds, clad in tabards of cloth of gold, with the arms of the Empire embroidered on the breast, preceded the General, the Count Baranoff, who had brought the Imperial message. A squadron of the hussars of Grodno closed the march. The procession halted in front of the church, the trumpets gave the signal, and in the midst of deep silence on the part of the crowd a herald began to read the proclamation, the last words of which were saluted by huzzas. The pro cession then advanced in the same order, followed by a dense crowd, to five other places, where the same reading was to take place. During the march the Grand Master of Police and the aide•de camp of the Governor threw among the crowd packets containing copies of the proclamation. The next day couriers were despatched to all points of the kingdom to announce the message." TILE PROPOSED CONFERENCE, FRANKFORT, March 27. At the sitting of the Federal Diet held yesterday, Sir Alexander Malet, the . English Envoy, commu nicated to the President an official document upon the Conference without armistice or fixed basis pro posed by England in the Dano-German question. This document is said to state that the English Government communicates to the Diet, provisionally, the new proposition it has addressed to the Courts of Vienna and Berlin, and confidently expects the Diet will not fail to perceive it is with especial regard to its position in the question that England has abstained from laying down a basis for the Conference. The present communication is only to be looked upon es confidential, the pros pect being held out of a subsequent formal invitation. England appears desirous first to as sure herself of the assent of the signitaries to the London treaty. In diplomatic circles it is gene rally believed that the Diet will accept the Conter rence by a large majority. In confirmation of this the Frankfort Europe of to-day says :—" The Germanic Diet held an extra ordinary sitting yesterday, at which its president communicated two English notes. In one of these communications the English Cabinet notifies to the Federal Dietthe proximate meeting in London of a Conference in which Austria, Prussia, Denmark, and England will take part. In the other note the Germanic Diet is invited to send a representative to the Conference. The two notes were referred to the united committees upon the. affairs of Schles wig-Holstein, with instructions to report upon them with the least possible delay." SHIPPING—This Day, , LONDON, March 30.—Wind this day at noon—West ; fresh breeze and showery. PORTSMOUTH, March 29.—Wind N.W.—Arrived— Ten, from Rio Janeiro for Cowes. COWES, March 29.—Wind E.—Arrived—Cuban, from Mauritius. (BY MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.) GRAVESEND, Wednesday Morning. Arrived, March 30—Is1e of the South, from Sydney— Pilicia, from Manilla. Sailed, March 30—Lord J. Russell, steamer, for Dun kirk—Neptune, from Havre. DEAL, Wednesday Morning. Passed—Pelican, from Manilla—Robert Burns, from Colombo—Chevalie., from Demerara—Merry Monarch, from Alexandra—Havannah, from Porto Rico—Universe, from Smyrna—Persian, from Apolina—Fortuna, screw steamer, from Palermo—Lucy, trom Oporto—Havannah, from Pernambuco —Shepherd, from St. Vincent—all for London. Passed, March 29—Helen, for Trinidad—Syria, for Algoa Bay—both from London. Passed, in tow—Murray, from Adelaide, for London. MADAME TUSSAUD'S.—Two most beautifully executed figures, representing King Henry IV. and his Queen, Joan of Navarre, attired in the gorgeous costumes of the period (1399), have been just added to Madame Tussaud's Historical Gallery, in Baker-street. The model of George Victor Townley, in the Chamber of Physiognomy, continues to be a great attraction. SWALLOWING THE EVIDENCE !—The late Mr. Peter Burrows, an eminent Irish barrister, was on one occasion, while defending a prisoner, oppressed with a cough, which he sought to soften by the occasional use of lozenges. The client whom ho was defending was indicted for murder, and it was deemed important in his defence to produce the bullet with which it was alleged the deed was done. This he was about to do, and held the bullet in one hand and a lozenge in the other, when, in the ardour of advocacy, he forget which was which, and, instead of the lozenge, swallowed the bullet, BARBARA'S HISTORY. By Amelia B. Edwards. —Messrs. Hurst and Blackett have just issued a new edition of this charming story. "It is not clam'," says the Times, " that we light upon a new novel of so much merit and interest as Barbara's History.' It is a work conspicuous beyond the average for taste and literary culture, and fell. citous in its delineation of some very delicate and refined shades of character. It is a very graceful and charming book, with a well-managed story, clearly cut characters, and sentiments expressed with on exquisite elocution. The dialogues especially sparkle with repartee. It is a book which the world will like, and which those who commence it will care to finish. This is high praise of a work of art, and so we intend it." . . The Countess Sophia Jodzieska (says the Painie) whose arrest has been mentioned by telegram, was one of the ladies of Cracow, the most honoured for her devotedness to the sufferings of her countrymen. After a domiciliary search by the Austrian police unattended with any result, she was placed in close confinement, and pre vented from taking any means for her defence or being visited by her relatives. Notwithstanding this treatment the Countess has more than one illustrious alliance with the 'Court of Vienna. Her brother Count Ryszczewski, married to the Countess Stadion, is attached as Chamber lain to the Archduke Francis-Joseph, uncle of the Emperor, and a cousin-germain is married to the Prince de Lichten- stein. A dreadful murder has just been committed at La Seyne, near Toulon. A farmer and his wife, on their return from the town, where they had been to sell their milk, found their daughter, a girl of seven years of age, lying on the bed dead, and the body covered over with a sheet. Death, which must have been instantaneous, was caused by three blows on the head with some heavy instru ment, _E,gb,berY was the cause of the act. 6111 i HER MAJESTY. WINDSOR CASTLE, March 29. His Royal Highness Prince Philip of Wurtemberg, at tended by Baron von Guttenberg, arrived at the Castle yesterday on a visit to the Queen. The royal dinner party included his Majesty the King of the Belgians, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, her Royal Highness Princess Helena, His Royal Highness Princ3 Philip of Wurtemberg, the Lord and Lady Taunton, Admiral Sir George and Lady Seymour, the Hon. and 'Very Rev. the Dean of Windsor, General Count de Moerkerke and Dr. Koepl (in attendance on the King of the Belgians) , Baron von Guttenberg (in attendance on Prince Philip of Wurtemberg), Mr. Woodward, and the Ladies and Gentle men in Waiting on the Queen, and on their Royal High' neeses the Prince and Princess of Wales. In consequence of the death of her Royal Highness the Landgravine of Hesse, the grandmother of the Princess of Wales, the princess did not join the royal dinner party. The Queen, accompanied by his Royal Highness Prince Arthur, walked in the grounds this morning. Professor Owen had the honour of delivering, before the Queen and royal family, the first of a course of four lectures on natural history. Court Arrangements. We are authorised to state that the Queen has been graciously pleased to announce her intention of holding a Court at Buckingham Palace, on Wednesday, the 6th of April, at which her Majesty will receive the principal mem bers of the corps dipolinetique; and that, at a second Court to be held on Wednesday, the 13th of April, a limited num ber of distinguished persons will be invited to attend in order to have an opportunity of paying their respects to her Majesty. Three Drawing-rooms will be held in the courso of the season by her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, and three levees by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, on behalf of the Queen. We are also to announoe that in the months of May and June two State concerts and two State balls will, by com mand of the Queen, take place Al Buckingham Palace- - and further, that her Majesty% birthday will be celebrated on the 24th of May. ' Death of Her Royal Highness the Land- gravine of 119sse. A telegram was received on Monday afternoon by their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Frinceb3 of Wales, an nouncing the death, at half past 9 that morning, of her Royal Highness the Landgravine of Hesse. The late Land gravine, Princess Louisa Charlotte, who was aunt of the late IV ng of Denmark, was born Oct. 30, 1789, and married, Nov. 10, ; 1810, William, Landgrave of Hesse. Her royal highness was daughter of his Royal Highness Frederick, Prince Hereditary of Denmark, and sister of the late King Christian VIII. of Denmark, and aunt of the late King Frederick VII. Her late royal highness was mother of the Princess Marie, married to Prince Frederick of Anhault Dessau—of Princess Louise (now Queen of Denmark) —of Prince Frederick William George, married to her Royal Highness Anne, a daughter of his Royal Highness Prince Charles of Prussia—and of Princess Augusta, married to Charles Frederick, Baron Blixen-Fineke, Hereditary Seigneur of Dalland. As will be seen from the above, the Princess of Wales and several members of the royal houses of Germany will be placed in mourning for a time by the death of her royal highness. Death of Viscount Sidmouth. The Right Hon. William Leonard Addington, Viscount Sidmouth of Sidmouth, county Devon, in the peerage of the United Kingdom, died on Friday last at his seat, Albury, near Guildford, Surrey. The deceased nobleman, who was in holy orders, had been in declining health for some months past. He was the only surviving son of the eminent statesman, Henry, first viscount, who was for 12 years Speaker of the House of Commons, and who suc ceeded Pitt as Prime Minister in 1801, by that nobleman's first wife, Ursula Mary, daughter and co-heir of Mr. Leonard Hammond, of Cheam, Surrey. The late peer was born Nov. 13, 1794, consequently he was in his 70th year. lie married April 20, 1820, Mary, eldest daughter of the late Rev. John Young, by whom—who survives her husband he had a numerous family, three sons and five daughters being still alive. The late peer succeeded to the title on the death of his venerable father, who died at a great age in February, 1844. He is now succeeded in the House of Lords by his eldest surviving son, the Hon. William Wells Addington, M.P. for Devizes, born March 25, 1824, and married Sept. 28, 1848, to his cousin, Georgiana Susan, eldest daughter of the Hon. and Very Rev. George Pellew, Dean of Norwich, by which lady he has a youthful family. His iordship was formerly in the navy, and obtained his commission as lieutenant in 1846. By his accesion to the Upper House a vacancy will take place in the House of Commons for the borough of Devizes, by which constituency the hon. gentleman was elected on the death of Captain J. N. Gladstone, R.N., brother of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1862. VISIT OF THE QUEEN TO THE METROFOLIS.--• Her Majesty visited Landon this morning. The royal party left the Windsor station of the Great Western Railway about half-past ten o'clock, and proceeded to town by epecial train, and arrived at Paddington about eleven o'clock. Her Majesty visited the gardens of the Horticultural Society, and will probably return to the Castle in the evening. THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES.—Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales are expected to leave Windsor Castle to-day for town, whether they will probably proceed by the Great Western Rail way. PRINCE VICTOR ALBERT.--On the 17th March the infant child of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales was vaccinated. The desired effect was produced, and the royal infant has passed through the various stages of the process in the most satisfactory manner. His Excellency the Prince de La Tour d'Ae" vergne, who has been on a visit to Viscount and Vis countess Palmerston since Friday last, has returned to the French Embassy at Albert-gate. The Duke and Duchess of Argyll are passing the Parliamentary holidays at Torquay. It is expected that the Duke will return to town on Saturday, as his grace is likely to be at the meeting of the members of the Cabinet appointed for Saturday next. The Duchess of Somerset and Lady Gwendoline St. Maur left the First Lord's official residence at the Ad miralty, Whitehall, yesterday, for Paris, for a week or tea days. The Earl of St, Germans left town on Mondal for Port Eliot, his seat in Cornwall. The noble earl will return to town at the close of the week. Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston, who are surrounded by a select circle at Broadlands, are expected to return to Cambridge House, Piccadilly, on Saturday next. Lord Henry Thynne, M.P., and Lady !Aries Thynne leave town to-day for Paris. The Right Hon. Sir Charles Wood, Bart., M.P•' is expected to return to his house in Belgrave-square, 011 Friday evening or Saturday moaning, from his country seat. The Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mrs Gladstone arrived in town yesterday from Falcost" hurst. Sir Arthur Buller has arrived at the Alexandr a Hotel, St. George's-place, Hyde-park-corner. --- FRENCH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—At the lat sitting M. Fiourens, in adverting to the death o f a woman at Rome (already mentioned by us) at the ag e of 122, remarked that instances of persons dy;a2; at the ag e of 100 and even 110 are not rare, and that he called the normal limit of life; but that, as to the age of 122, he CO sidered it the extreme limit, which, however, could net b e fixed with great precision, owing to the paucity of cases 00 record. A letter was received from M, Lartet, stating th at the Due de Luynes, on his arrival at lieyrouth , in the first days of the present month, visited several caverns in the neighbourhood in company with M. Lartet. These cavern!) had been described 30 years ago by M. Botta, who had ab' served a kind of breccia or pudding stone there, containing bones and remains of pottery. The Due de Luynes, having; caused one of these caverns, from which the Dog river (Lycus of the ancients, Nahr el Kelb of the Arabs) fbr el ' t to be explored, found it to contain many fossil remain s herbivore, and a quantity of flint implements, similar to , those found in Europe.—M. Ramon de la Sagra sent in curious paper on the fecundity observable in the island ol Cuba. In the town of Trinidad, counting 11,463 souls, 0 ° married couple had 21 children, another 18, and a th ir ,": 16; two had 21 each, two 15 each, and ten 13 each all alive in one case. At Santo Espiritu (12,85 0 sna l " ( i the issue of seven couples ranged between 29 el% 19 children each; three had 18 each, two 17, and thr,eLi; ranged between 16 and 13. At Villa - Clara (15,511) _ issue of four marriages ranged between 23 and 20 a t i)drea o each; of two 18 each; :one couple had 16, three 14, and t 49113.0 13. In one of the latter cases, the husband w as 88, and the wife 85; only five of their d aug Lters were still alive; t d , family comprised 85 grand-children and 100 great-gran tia children, Many Cuban women become mothers at 1 3 % O e u , 3 others continue to be fruitful until the age of 50. I 1 : there were in the village of Banes four cases dren at a birth, and at Santo Espiritu six cases of tor tile _ Nearly all the Cuban women inhabiting towns suckle wail: own children. The delightful climate, their simple and raj. form life, and the comfort generally enjoyed by most lies, tend to render the women extremely placid aUct hearted. Academl M. Ampere, member of the French tes, ,__„ of three list. and of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Let riv. just died at Pau, to which place he had goue for the Ulls